Tom Phillips

Tom Phillips (19 February 1888-10 December 1941) was an Admiral in the British Royal Navy during World War II. Phillips commanded Force Z during the Japanese invasion of Malaya, and he went down with his flagship HMS Prince of Wales to become the highest-ranking Allied officer to be killed in battle during the war.

Biography
Thomas Spencer Vaughan Phillips was born in Falmouth, Cornwall, England on 19 February 1888, and he joined the Royal Navy in 1903. He became a lieutenant in 1909 and a Lieutenant Commander in 1916, serving on destroyers in the Mediterranean and in the Far East during World War I. After the war, he was promoted to commander in 1921, Captain in 1927, Commodore in 1938, Rear Admiral in 1939, and Vice Admiral in 1940. Phillips was seen as a "desk admiral" by many, and he did not have the respect of the upper echelons of the Royal Navy. Nevertheless, he was given command of Force Z in late 1941, and the new battleship HMS Prince of Wales served as his flagship. In December 1941, his fleet was sent to repel the Japanese invasion of Malaya by attacking the Japanese troop transports, but his fleet was fist sighted by Japanese submarines and scout planes. Force Z, which was without air cover, was then subjected to heavy bombing by Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service bombers, and HMS Prince of Wales was the first capital ship to be targeted. 86 Japanese bombers bombed the Prince of Wales, which began to take on water and sink. Phillips, Captain John Leach, and 324 other sailors went down with the ship.